Latest news with #disability
Daily Mail
12 hours ago
- Health
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE My terminally ill brother was forced to eat Wendy's off a STOOL because the fast food spot didn't have available seating... it's his favourite but we can't go back
A terminally ill boy in a wheelchair was forced to eat off a stool at a fast food restaurant in London after staff did not offer disabled seating. Stage 4 cancer patient Bailey Merritt, 13, was taken to Wendy's in Camden by his brother Carl, 29, after finishing radiotherapy at a London hospital. Bailey also suffers from ADHD, autism, as well as being partially sighted and prone to seizures. His family chose the restaurant as the chain is a favourite of Bailey's and the window displayed a disabled access sign. However the teenager was forced to sit with his wheelchair pushed up to a stool due to a lack of available disabled access seating. His family said the experience ruined Bailey's view of Wendy's and made him uncomfortable about eating there ever again. Carl has called for more establishments to be aware of accessibility issues. He said: 'He has stage 4 terminal cancer, so at this moment in time we are just trying to make memories with him. 'He had just come out of the hospital and when he is hungry he needs to eat pretty quickly. 'We went in and ordered food, when you are in a bit of a rush you don't always realise if there aren't any seats. We also did not think it would be an issue so we just ordered our food. 'When we got the food, we asked where the disabled seating was and staff just told us they only had a disabled toilet and not disabled seating.' Under the Equality Act, restaurants should make reasonable adjustments to allow disabled people to have the same access as any other customers. Carl claimed staff at Wendy's did not make any accommodations for his brother and just told the family that 'no seats were available'. A small number of more practical seats were available, but staff refused to ask other customers to move their seats to accommodate for Bailey. In an astonishing excuse, staff told the family that the building 'was a bank' before it was a restaurant, which explained why they did not have disabled seating Carl is a restaurant manager himself and was appalled by the lack of sympathy which he said he received from staff members. He added: 'If you have a disabled toilet then you need to have disabled seating. If they are all full then you tell customers to move and tell them that other people need it. Bailey had been returning from a chemotherapy appointment at hospital when he went to Wendy's 'They sent someone with terminal cancer to eat his dinner off a chair. 'We would have left but we couldn't because of Bailey's situation, he needed to eat something then. 'I am angry, not just for Bailey, there are a lot of people that have physical disabilities but also invisible ones. They have a disabled toilet and a sign on their window about accessibility so it doesn't make sense. 'They could have put disabled seating downstairs, it didn't make sense to me.' Bailey lives with his mother and father in Romford, while Carl has moved out of the family home he said he still tries to visit and spend time with his brother as much as possible. He was diagnosed with cancer in 2024 and the family are now spending as much time as they can with Bailey to look after him. However the experience at Wendy's has now put Bailey off the restaurant for good. 'He was very upset about it,' said Carl, 'Wendy's was his favourite place to eat. 'We have one where he lives in Romford and it was his favourite food. 'But the way he put it in Camden was that he was eating food off a seat someone had just sat on. It made him feel dirty eating his food. 'We struggle enough to find places he likes to eat and now we have to find a new place for him.' Carl has called on other businesses to be more aware of catering for customers with disabilities. He said: 'I just think places like this need to be looking into not just physical, but hidden disabilities, they need to follow the Equality Act. 'Especially with children, they are the worst ones to do it to. 'I don't think a lot of people realise how much of an impact it can have on people, it is disrespectful and it is discrimination.' A Wendy's source said the Camden restaurant did have three low-level seats on the downstairs floor of the building. They confirmed they had been in touch with the family.
The Guardian
12 hours ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Labour MP resigns as government whip in protest at benefit cuts
The Labour MP, Vicky Foxcroft, has resigned as a government whip in protest at the government's welfare plans, saying she will not be able to vote for the cuts to disability payments. The government is braced for a major rebellion on the welfare bill, which includes significant changes to personal independence payments for disabled people. Foxcroft, the MP for Lewisham North who was shadow disability minister before the election, said she was unable to do her job as a whip because she disagreed with the changes and did not believe that cuts were part of the solution to rising inactivity. In a letter to the prime minister, Foxcroft said that the benefits system was 'in desperate need of reform' but her experience as shadow disability minister had showed her that the struggles of disabled people and organisations were 'even tougher than I had imagined'. She said: 'The last Conservative government left many in poverty and living life in fear of losing their support, not getting access to the right medical care, not having suitable housing and not being able to participate fully in society. The real and ongoing distress was palpable. 'I absolutely understand the need to address the ever-increasing welfare bill in these difficult economic times, but I have always believed this could and should be done by supporting more disabled people into work. 'I do not believe that cuts to personal independence payment (Pip) and the health element of universal credit should be part of the solution.' Foxcroft, who is among a number of frontbenchers uncomfortable with the proposed changes, said she had wrestled with whether to fight the changes from within the government. 'Sadly it is now seems that we are not going to get the changes I desperately wanted to see. I therefore tender my resignation as I know I will not be able to do the job that is required of me and whip – or indeed vote – for reforms which include cuts to disabled people's finances,' she said. 'I am incredibly proud to have served as part of the first Labour government in 14 years and hope that ministers will revisit these reforms so that I can continue to support the government in delivering for the people of this country.'
The Independent
12 hours ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Labour whip quits over Starmer's benefits cuts
Keir Starmer has suffered a blow after one of his frontbench team resigned, saying she could not back cuts that will hit disabled people. Vicky Foxcroft dramatically quit as a government whip and called on the prime minister to 'support more disabled people into work' instead. In a letter to the prime minister, she said she could not vote "for reforms which include cuts to disabled people's finances'. She added: 'With a heavy heart, I have written to the prime minister to tender my resignation as a whip. Whilst I will continue to support the government in delivering the change the country so desperately needs, I cannot vote in favour of the proposed reforms to disability benefits.' She said that she understood 'the need to address the ever-increasing welfare bill in these difficult economic times, but I have always believed this could and should be done by supporting more disabled people into work. I do not believe that cuts to personal independence payment (PIP) and the health element of Universal Credit should be part of the solution.'
Yahoo
18 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
DWP makes four big changes for single Universal Credit claimants aged 25 and over
The Department for Work and Pensions has announced four big changes for claimants who are single and aged 25 and over. Four million people are set to get a £725 boost with the bump in rates of Universal Credit. The shake-up from the Labour Party government could see millions of households benefit from the hikes. The Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill, published on Wednesday, June 18, announced changes that will increase the standard Universal Credit allowance above inflation for four years, starting from 2026. Single claimants aged 25 and over, will see their rates increasing by 2.3% in 2026 to 2027 and then 3.1% in 2027 to 2028 and then 4.0% in 2028 to 2029, followed by 4.8% in 2029 to 2030, which is the end of this Parliament. READ MORE: Six-bed HMO plan gets the go-ahead from Solihull planners READ MORE: Handsworth crash victim Muhammad Qasim, 29, was over drink-drive limit and speeding - inquest READ MORE Millions of UK drivers urged to spend £9 before end of June James Watson-O'Neill, chief executive of disability charity Sense, said he was "especially alarmed" by plans to cut the Universal Credit uplift "for those with the greatest barriers to work". "Many of the disabled people and families we support have told us they're frightened, uncertain how they'll afford food, heating, other basic needs without this vital support," he added. The DWP press release boasts that: "The Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill will provide 13-weeks of additional financial security to existing claimants affected by changes to the PIP daily living component, including those who their lose eligibility to Carers Allowance and the carer's element of Universal Credit. "The 13-week additional protection will give people who will be affected by the changes time to adapt, access new, tailored employment support, and plan for their future once they are reassessed and their entitlement ends. "This transitional cover is one of the most generous ever and more than three times the length of protection provided for the transition from DLA to PIP." It is a: "Bill to make provision to alter the rates of the standard allowance, limited capability for work element and limited capability for work and work-related activity element of universal credit and the rates of income-related employment and support allowance, and to restrict eligibility for the personal independence payment."
CTV News
a day ago
- Business
- CTV News
People with disabilities concerned proposed Liberal bill will increase federal taxes
Nicholas Taylor, 39, of Cooks Brook, N.S., outside of their mother's home in this undated handout photo. HALIFAX — Advocacy groups are asking the federal Liberal government to adjust its proposed tax bill to ensure people with disabilities don't end up paying more to the Canada Revenue Agency. Inclusion Canada says it favours Ottawa lowering the lowest marginal tax rate from 15 to 14 per cent, as proposed in the bill that passed first reading earlier this month. However, the group says the unintended result of the change is that tax credits for people with disabilities will decrease in many cases. That's because the credit — used to reduce taxes payable — is generated by a formula that is tied to the marginal tax rate, and by dropping that rate to 14 per cent, the credit shrinks. Krista Carr, the CEO of Inclusion Canada, said in a telephone interview Monday 'we're really hoping this is something that will be remedied, but as of yet we've not had a response.' The lobby group says without this change, many lower income people with disabilities who rely on the tax credit will be paying about $100 a year more to Ottawa. The March of Dimes, an organization that also works on behalf of people with disabilities, says in a release that families with children with disabilities would lose an average of about $156 per child. The federal Finance Department didn't immediately provide a comment on the groups' request for the change to the bill. The Liberals have said reducing the marginal tax rate will save two-income families up to $840 a year in 2026. Ottawa has also noted that beginning in July eligible Canadians can receive up to $2,400 a year from the Canada Disability Benefit. Carr said people with disabilities will lose money in the tax credits 'that are fundamentally important to them as it helps offset the expenses related to disabilities.' She argues the simple fix is to amend the bill to keep the marginal tax credit rate at 15 per cent, 'just for the calculation of these particular tax credits.' Carr also said tax credits on medical expenses will also be affected, and that could further add to the tax bill for people with disabilities. Nicholas Taylor, a resident of Cooks Brook, N.S., said in an interview Tuesday that the extra $100 in taxes would be roughly equivalent to a month of medication costs. The 39-year-old has polyneuropathy — a condition that where peripheral nerves in the body are damaged — which limits Taylor's mobility and requires the use of a wheelchair. 'For myself, that's a month's worth of medication. I'm diabetic and the blood strips that I have to purchase, they're also about $100 for a package,' Taylor said. With tax payments annually of about $450 on $12,000 in income, Taylor estimates the extra $100 the changes may cost him represents a 25 per cent tax increase. 'We need people with disabilities to be consulted before policies like this are brought in,' Taylor added. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 19, 2025. By Michael Tutton
